Duquesne Media students return to 9/11 Tribute Museum for 16th anniversary

By Julie Pawlikowski, second year graduate assistant in the Media Management program

(Photo by senior multiplatform journalism major Lauren Zawatski)

Duquesne Media students Julie Pawlikowski and Lauren Zawatski interned at the 9/11 Tribute Museum this past month of June. Compelled by the strong bond they formed with the Museum and by its message of service and acts of kindness, they traveled back to NYC to assist the Museum during the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“I don’t remember what I did last year for 9/11 because it was just another day. A sad day, but not one that touched me personally,” says Julie. “But after meeting and learning from survivors, family members, witnesses, and volunteers during our internship, we knew we couldn’t stay at home and do nothing. We asked ourselves, ‘What can we do to help, how can we give back to the museum?’ The answer was obvious so we jumped on a bus to NYC and when we got there we told them to put us to work and they were so grateful, it was amazing.”

Lauren, a senior multiplatform journalism major, took pictures throughout the day of the Museum’s co-founder Lee Ielpi as he spoke at the Firefighter Memorial next to FDNY Engine 10 Ladder 10 House. The Museum used two of her shots for their Facebook post. Julie, a graduate student in the Media Management program, assisted Mr. Ielpi in the museum and at the memorial pools.

The privilege of learning about 9/11 on the deepest, most personal level and growing, laughing, and understanding alongside the awe-inspiring Tribute family made it unfathomable for Lauren to not return on Sept. 11 to honor the individual lives that Tribute eternally seeks to preserve. “It was both an insane honor and challenge to serve as a photographer for Tribute throughout the day,” says Lauren. “Being able to capture the essence of the day while still experiencing it as a human being was striking. There were moments when I found myself weeping behind the lens and seeing for myself the hard duality of being both a journalist and human. Having the opportunity to tell even a fragment of Tribute’s story and role has certainly been one of my most treasured moments as a journalist.”